The Desert Swing on the European Tour concludes with the final event in that part of the world this week as the Qatar Masters is staged once again. So far Shane Lowry, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Kurt Kitayama have picked up wins in the desert and one more trophy is up for grabs.
Eddie Pepperell scooped the title here last year but such is the position the tournament now falls in on the worldwide golfing landscape he is not here looking to keep hold of the title. A competitive field is here aiming to win though.
Recent Winners
2018 – Eddie Pepperell
2017 – Jeunghun Wang
2016 – Branden Grace
2015 – Branden Grace
2014 – Sergio Garcia
2013 – Chris Wood
2012 – Paul Lawrie
2011 – Thomas Bjorn
2010 – Robert Karlsson
2009 – Alvaro Quiros
The Course
We are back at the wonderful Doha Golf Club to round off the Desert Swing. The 7,400 yard par 72 track has been a feature of this tournament throughout its history. It sounds long on paper but with the dry air we know the ball flies further so it isn’t a long track by any means. The way it has been created, with many doglegs and small greens means there isn’t a lot of joy in overcoming it with power.
Given the firmness of the tracks out in this part of the world the course needs to be played from the fairways for the best control into the greens. A good putter is always needed in this part of the world, as is comfort in the wind because this is an exposed track much like Oman last week so if you pick a player who can’t control the ball in windy conditions you might be struggling.
The Field
This was always the Desert Swing event that the very leading lights in the game swerved when it fell in between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and nothing has changed now that is clashes with the big events out in Florida this month. That leaves Thomas Pieters as the man carrying the biggest profile into the tournament.
It is actually Tom Lewis who is the highest ranked player in the field this week with Adrian Otaegui not a million miles behind. Alexander Bjork, Justin Harding, Lucas Herbert, Ross Fisher and Chris Wood complete the names teeing it up with two figure world rankings to their name. Oman winner Kurt Kitayama and former champions Alvaro Quiros, Robert Karlsson and Paul Lawrie all tee it up here.
Market Leaders
Thomas Pieters begins the tournament as an 11/1 shot to land the title. He finished hot in Oman last week but the end position probably flatters the golf he played in truth and he came past beaten runners to coin a racing term. The big Belgian is struggling to put four rounds together at the minute and he has never broken the top 30 in this tournament. He might be the big name in the field but he’s pretty easily passed over at the price.
English pair Jordan Smith and Tom Lewis are 20/1 to win this tournament. Both have shown flashes of life in the desert in recent months so their position in the market is a fair one. Lewis was ninth in Abu Dhabi and third in Saudi Arabia so in a much weaker field here he should be a leading runner while Smith was just outside the top 10 in Abu Dhabi and tied for twelfth in Oman last week when like many the second round caught him out.
Alexander Bjork goes into the tournament as a 28/1 shot. His form this year has been steady rather than spectacular but he has plenty of desert form up his sleeve and has shown in many events that he can handle the wind so if he can tighten up on and around the greens there is no discernible reason why he can’t be massively in the mix coming down the stretch on Sunday. It is 30/1 bar.
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Main Bets
I’ve been waiting for this week to come around for a while because I really like Victor Dubuisson this week. I liked him when I heard he was coming back onto the tour but I’m even more encouraged by his top 20 in Saudi Arabia which he followed up with another one in Oman last week. The French genius has had his problems away from the game and I don’t need to publicise them but when he fancies the job, as he seems to be doing at the minute, he is still one of the very best in Europe if not beyond. Dubuisson has played this tournament in 2011, 2012 and 2013 when the fields were decent and was ninth on all three occasions. He looks a massive runner this week.
Aaron Rai has been good to me already this season and the way that he hits a golf ball I’m going to take him to repeat his success for me here too. He was in the top 20 here last year which wasn’t the worst effort in the world and he is clearly a better player as a winner on the Tour since then. He doesn’t miss many fairways or greens so if the short stick plays the game then he has every chance of being right there.
Outsiders
Soren Kjeldsen started the season very well in the desert with a fifth placed run in Abu Dhabi and with the fields and the courses being too long for him since then I’m happy to pass over his last two efforts and expect much more from him here. Kjeldsen is a former runner up in this tournament and he has four other top 20s to his name since then including on his last two starts here. We know he’ll be on the fairways and greens and he is comfortable in the wind so if he gets some putts to drop he’ll be there or thereabouts.
Brandon Stone got a bit of attention last week when he almost holed his second shot on the hardest hole on Saturday before actually doing it on Sunday. He had a mare in the heavy gusts but he isn’t the first and won’t be the last to fall foul of that. He is though, a wonderful ball striker and we saw when he won the Scottish Open last year that he can play in normal winds. Take that crazy 80 of play last week and he would have been right there. He can make up for it this week.
Alvaro Quiros is a former winner around here and in this field I’m happy to have a go on him again here because his best results tend to come in the desert. He has already finished third in the Dubai Desert Classic in a much stronger field than this. Three of his seven wins have come in the desert and another was in the exposed track of the Rocco Forte Open so there is enough to like to have a go at Quiros at 125/1.
Tips
Back V.Dubuisson to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back S.Kjeldsen to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
Back A.Rai to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back B.Stone to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back A.Quiros to win Qatar Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
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